Linda Week! Cinnamon Bread Breakfast Casserole

There are many reasons I love Linda. She's fun and funny, one of my javas and a great walking partner.

Last semester, Wednesdays were the worst. Between 8:00 am and 9:00 pm I was home for about 30 minutes. Every Wednesday, in that 30 minute window, Linda appeared at my back door with DINNER! I cannot tell you what a blessing it was, for her to take one less worry off my plate. Ha ha. No pun intended. This week I'll be sharing 5 of her family favorite recipes.

 Cinnamon Bread Breakfast Casserole

1 large loaf of cinnamon bread, cut into 1” squares
8 oz cream cheese
1 dozen eggs
1 c. milk or cream
½ c. syrup

Place bread cubes in greased 9 x 13 baking dish.  Blend the cream cheese, eggs, milk and syrup together.  Pour over the bread.  Refrigerate overnight.  Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Quick & Easy Quiche

I've been making one or another variations of this quiche for twenty+ years. Here's what I've learned:

• homemade crust is the gold standard, but Trader Joe's frozen will do in a pinch (I will share my crust recipe and know-how during Pie Week.)
• you can pretty much put anything you want in it, but cheese and bacon is the best
• it doesn't freeze.

We like it for dinner with muffins and a salad, but make two.

Quick & Easy Quiche

What's not to love about bacon?

1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie crust
2 cups Swiss cheese, grated
1 pound bacon, fried crisp-ish and crumbled
6 eggs
1/2 cup milk or cream, obviously cream is best
salt and pepper to taste
a dash of basil and a drop of vanilla

Sprinkle Swiss cheese and bacon on top of unbaked pie crust. Beat eggs with a wire whisk until foamy. Beat in milk or cream, then add salt, pepper, basil and vanilla. Pour egg mixture over cheese and bacon. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Let sit 10 minutes before serving. Makes 1 pie.

Come back tomorrow for: Aunt Tricia's BBQ Chicken Pizza + my All-Purpose Miracle Dough

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Finding ripe bananas on my kitchen counter never seems to be a problem, but making banana bread is kind of a pain. I'm sure I do something wrong, but I have a hard time getting it done in the center without over-baking the top.

The other disadvantage is having to plan ahead...by the time it sits in the oven for 60 minutes I've practically forgotten it. These yummy muffins, on the other hand, take about 17 minutes to bake, which is an approximation of my oven-attention span.

My boys don't like chocolate, so I make the first half without chips and then add them for the second half. One time I made these and accidentally left out the banana which I don't recommend. Make a double batch on the weekend and freeze some for a quick breakfast on busy mornings.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons soft butter
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1 cup ripe bananas, mashed well
3 cups flour
3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup chocolate chips, if desired

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and/or paper line muffin tin. Mix sugar, butter and egg thoroughly. Stir in milk and bananas. In a separate bowl mix flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry mixture to banana mixture, stirring well. Add chocolate chips and fill muffin tins 3/4. Bake approximately 17 minutes or until nicely browned. Makes about 18.

Come back tomorrow for Quick & Easy Quiche!